Win-Win: The Hottest Deals On The 15 Hottest-Selling Vehicles In The U.S.

Jim Gorzelany
, ContributorI write about how to maximize your automotive investment and more.Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own.

The Ford F-150 pickup truck is not only the best-selling vehicle in the U.S. it's offering one of the biggest cash rebates this month. (GEOFF ROBINS/AFP/Getty Images)

With new-car sales beginning to stall, automakers are ramping up their summer clearance sales with some of the sweetest deals we’ve seen in a long time, particularly on their slowest-selling models and/or those that are about to be discontinued or substantially redesigned. But what if you’re looking for a killer deal on what’s otherwise one of the most popular rides on the road?

To that end, this month we’re featuring some surprisingly great leasing, cash-back, and cut-rate financing offers being extended on the 15 (actually 14 – see below) of the industry’s best-selling vehicles. These include each of the “Big Three” domestic-brand pickup trucks, popular crossover SUVs like the Toyota RAV4, Nissan Rogue, and Chevrolet Equinox, and the “usual suspects” among passenger cars, including the Honda Civic and Accord and the Toyota Camry and Corolla.

Perhaps running contradictory to the conventional wisdom, America’s number one-selling vehicle – the full-size Ford F-150 pickup truck – also carries one of the richest incentives of the month among all vehicles, offering buyers as much as $5,250 cash back (in addition to leasing and financing promotions). This obviously helps Ford retain sales superiority while helping ensure dealers won’t get stuck with excess inventory as the end of the current model year approaches.

Note that the only one out of the 15 top sellers not to offer an advertised sales incentive of any kind for July is the compact Honda CR-V crossover SUV. (At that they're probably not needed, as we found several hundred fewer CR-Vs listed in stock within 25 miles of downtown Chicago than either Nissan Rogues or Toyota RAV4s.) We’re featuring the list of the top 15 sellers and their applicable leasing, cash rebate, and cut-rate financing deals in the accompanying slide show.

Now, if you’re more likely to follow a buck than follow the crowd, you can find some incredibly rich deals being offered on some of the industry’s slower-selling models this month. For example, Ford is slapping $7,500 on the hood of its soon-to-be redesigned full-size Expedition truck-based SUV to move the metal, while Hyundai is offering both its midsize Sonata sedan and its compact Santa Fe Sport crossover SUV with rebates in the $6,000 range. And if you’re among the dwindling few motorists these days who favor a full-size sedan, the Chrysler 300 is selling with up to $5,250 cash back and the Ford Taurus is being offered with a $4,850 rebate.

While we’ve tried as much as possible to identify national offers, be aware that automakers’ lease deals and other incentives often vary slightly from one part of the country to another, usually to address local supply and demand issues. For example, cash rebates may be different – or excluded – depending on the trim level within a given model line, and additional discounts may apply to certain option packages. The lowest advertised lease deals and financing programs are usually available only to those having the highest credit scores. Be sure to check automakers’ websites to find deals specific to your zip code.